Metheringham Football Club 2007-08 Season Review

Wow! what a season it has been, with Alan Ward's Under 15s winning their league by beating Heckington 6-5 with only thirty seconds of the season left. Ant Jones' Under 9s also had a chance to win their league going into the last match, but despite having three of the League's top five strikers in their ranks, namely Matt Whitehouse (31 goals), Ben Mearns (28) and Cameron Alcock (23), they failed to score and were pipped to the title by Heighington in the light of them winning one nil. Next season will see them playing in the top league so let's hope the "Terrific Trio" can continue to hit the back of the net.

In the other six juniors age groups we finished with two fourths, a fifth, two sixths and an eighth. On paper John Haresign's Under 8s don't appear to have had such a good year, however the object of the exercise within our club at the younger age groups is to introduce all players to competitive football and despite what we see on television, to engender respect for referees, the opposition and especially their team mates and John has always been brilliant at that.

Moving onto our senior sides Stuart Robinson, having been forced into the management of the Saturday Team prior to the beginning of the previous season, again continued with his "youth policy" and things continued to improve in a very young and inexperienced side. The icing on the cake for his team was a Sincil Bank appearance in the Horace Franklin Cup Final which saw a 4-0 victory over Cherry Knights. A higher, final league position, clearly emphasised the level of the improvement the side has made.

The Sunday First Team led by Alan Brown, Steve Asher and yours truly, finished in the highest position in the Club's history, fifth in the Premier League, having beaten or shared the points with all of the teams above them except the Golden Eagle who won the league and were runners-up in the County Cup. On the other hand some poor results against lower teams stopped an even better position being achieved and also saw a disappointing exit from the Kelly Read cup at the quarter final stage. Hopefully, if these can be eradicated, next season an even higher position and/or some silverware can be achieved.

Neil McDowell's Second Team, assisted by Lee Addlesee and Brian Blackband had another outstanding year in the First Division, losing only two games in their march to the League Champions spot. After two years of not being able to take their deserved promotion to the Premier League due to the First Team's presence there they have decided to leave the club and apply for membership of the League in their own right. We wish them well and look forward to playing them next season.

The A team run by Simon 'Faz' Farrar has once again struggled all season through lack of players and help, however victory in the last match saw them avoid relegation and must therefore be classed as a successful season. For next season this team will become the 'Reserves' and will be managed by Dave Atkin hopefully once again in Division Four.

Dave Atkin's Under 18s had a successful season finishing in third place behind Skegness Town and St Helens. We have an excellent crop of Under Eighteens as witnessed by their involvement in all of the senior teams this season, especially the Saturday side. Their continued involvement bodes very well for the future of Metheringham Football Club.

As Chairman of an excellent local football club I am very lucky to preside over a very enthusiastic and dedicated Committee, unlike a majority of other clubs, we meet weekly throughout the season to ensure that we run our affairs efficiently and effectively. By doing so, we can continue to provide football for as many people as possible, be it playing, officiating or just watching. Further proof that we do things in the correct manner, we continue to fulfil the requirements of an "FA Charter Status Club Award Club". This includes having all of our managers CRB checked and continuing to encourage our managers to study for and achieve coaching badges.

The costs of running a club of our size are extremely high. It is always difficult to generate cash so we are always very grateful for all of the help we receive from our fundraisers and sponsors without whose help we could not survive. None more so than Butch and Maggie (and Staff) at the Star and Garter and we thank them for their continuing support. As well as providing football for so many we also like to think we also do our bit for others in the village too and over the year we have held Joint-Race Nights with both the Village Hall and Bowls Club and these have been very successful for all concerned.

Finally I close in saying a big thank you to all of the Parents who help us in so many ways, both financial and otherwise.

John Wood
Chairman

Meg FC - 2007-2008 Awards & Achievements